Costly Mistakes
by Soda-fiedPsycho
Summary: Frisk made too many mistakes during the timelines. Thinking of everything as a game. Disregarding emotions. Toying with timelines. Mistakes pile up. This time, they'll have to go down a path of redemption. But things will never be the same as the old times. It's their fault, they know this.
1. The First Chapter (Frisk)

Everything was dark.

For this was the boundary between Life & Death.

In the darkness, two buttons faded into existence.

**RESET**** \- Continue**

For some reason, the RESET button was crossed out.

A hand shot out from the infinite blackness, hitting Continue.

Space itself distorted, the darkness turning to lights & colors.

Shades of yellow, prominently gold, took over the vision of a human child.

Pillars of the same yellow stood around the hall.

_*Judgement Hall._

A deep foreboding sensation shook the child, their eyes squinting open and them clutching their knife uneasily.

It should have been easy with their ability. HE should have been defeated already.

But no, he was too fast and too quick. Too precise and too smart.

He used their own underestimation of him to his advantage while not simply eradicating them upon entering the Judgement Hall.

Curiosity drove their minds from that thought, after all, he clearly had the power to.

They had thoughts of him remembering and from their experience of millions of timelines, an insanely high amount to the point that the memories were blurred, they swore that he was able to remember.

He was always too... different from the rest. He knew exactly what was going on throughout any part of the Underground.

This wasn't their first Genocide.

The difference between this Genocide and the rest is that this time, Sans wasn't lowering his level to theirs.

They always knew he was the most powerful monster. They just didn't know to what extent.

Apparently the Old Royal Scientist didn't just fall into his creation.

His creation itself made his soul split between Limbo & Sans. Only 1% of his soul was ripped away from him into Sans, but it was more than enough.

The child only found out a small part of that puzzle after a thousand timelines passed and Gaster himself appeared.

They fought him, of course, it was one of their main curiosities. How would he fare in a fight against them?

The answer was that he was too powerful. In less than a second, they were eradicated.

The human grimaced in pain at that awful memory. The pain itself was still lingering even after a million timelines. They could barely even move even after resetting from that timeline. Gaster's attacks were unhindered by time & space itself.

The worst part was that they couldn't even comprehend Gaster's movement speeds. He was simply so fast that he simply seemed to disappear from sight altogether.

They couldn't predict his attacks at all, even if they reset over and over.

And it wouldn't even matter if they could. Gaster also knew of the Resets & he was simply above them.

There was an interesting part of the fight, though.

The Human long since mastered the ability to see the souls of monsters.

Gaster's was only filled 1/5 of the way.

And that portion was still massive. Even with their determination, the soul nearly kept them down for good.

If it was higher, the chances they'd have to reset would be reduced to the point they weren't sure they'd be capable of escaping the clutches of Gaster.

It took another few thousand resets to even meet Gaster a second time. And that time they met him at the machine in the True Lab.

He spoke words that they couldn't understand, but the words themself imprinted upon reality, showing that Gaster was still powerful enough, even less than 1/5 whole, to rewrite reality itself.

The words shown were still too complicated for the human to understand, but their brain caught something in Gaster's speech.

A phrase that was perfectly comprehended. "I made a new universe."

Their curiosity only increased.

Gaster's smile still remained as static as usual.

Though, the human knew that in order to continue their information, they'd have to battle the only Monster who even knew Gaster anymore while not being lost.

Sans.

It was a mistake, though.

Immediately after confronting Sans in the Judgement Hall about Gaster, they died.

It was too fast for them to catch.

That was four hundred timelines ago.

Even now, Sans isn't letting them pass. They just know that he's not speaking anymore.

A change occured in the timeline. Change was what they always wanted to occur due to their boredom of static events, but this was the worse scenario aside from Gaster.

They can't RESET back anymore.

They can only CONTINUE.

And they can't get past Sans, the one blocking their capability to RESET.

Speaking of Sans, the human decided to move down the judgment hall.

To face him and get past him so they can finally stop this game.

Interestingly enough, they got past the end of the hall. When they went to touch the door, a snap resounded through the halls.

Immediately they grew alert only to realize that they were back at the beginning of the hall.

Unease gripped their heart like a vice. They clutched the Real Knife closer as a way to ward off the fear.

A deep chuckle echoed through the halls, followed by a dead, hollow, & monotone voice.

***unsettling, isnt it**

They spun around, searching all directions frantically.

Searching around the pillars to find him.

They couldn't find him.

They decided to run, sprinting across the hall but only making it a single meter before blue bones appeared in front of them.

They jumped back, falling on their back to the golden & yellow tiles.

***you cant escape your judgment, kid.**

The deep voice echoed throughout once more. The human shot up from the floor, dashing to the left as an instinctive danger sense gained from countless fights flared.

It wasn't proven wrong as where they were standing, a single inconspicuous bone stood.

One that was enough to instantly end their life.

They trembled, clutching their knife closer, warily checking their surroundings.

It was like a game of Cat & Mouse.

_A game._ They mentally chuckled at the irony, them treating this entire thing like a game but now the tables have turned.

Unfortunately, their mental chuckling didn't last long as their danger sense flared once more, them jumping forward in a mad dash, only to still receive a bone to their ankle.

It pierced through, blood spilling the once pristine golden floor.

Their knife flew out of their hand, landing in a clatter next to a pillar.

They fell to the ground in a hump, their face twisted in pain & agony, turning to that of the fearful child they were back during the first timeline.

***that expression. it says a lot. youre utterly helpess and frightened. youre probably hoping for mercy.**

The voice once again sounded out the hall. Then it chuckled out a bitter, hollow laugh.

***mercy that wasnt granted to the many youve slain all for entertainment. **

The human huddled themselves closer. They were shivering, utterly terrified of the monster the usually lazy skeleton became.

The human frantically thought of ways to escape their situation but they knew that none would work.

Sans was trying, after all.

Even if they tried clawing at the bone, they knew that it'd only hurt them.

They thought back to the many pacifist timelines with Sans. Then to the genocide timelines.

They realized how much they have hurt him.

There was no forgiveness. After the first genocide, Sans just wasn't truly cheerful.

It was more faked.

He obviously remembered.

They were ignorant to the suffering of the others, like a child.

And after they realized that suffering was happening, they didn't care about it due to them still thinking it was a game.

***you know, all of this could have been avoided. of course, thatd say youre a good person. youre not.**

The voice was like the Reaper itself.

It judged them and found them unworthy.

The bone piercing their ankle then disappeared, but they were given no reprieve.

A blue light shone around their body immediately after the bone disappeared and shoved them across the hall into a pillar.

They wheezed, their expression contorting even more in pain as two bones pierced through their body. The bones weren't imbued that much with Sans' magical power so that the child would be killed. Just to pin them.

***if you were a good person, you wouldnt toy with the lives of others.**

A sigh echoed through the halls after that message.

A noise echoed through the hall and the human instinctively started cowering, trying to make themselves smaller.

It was the sound of a chuckle. One not very far.

It was right beside them.

***heya.**

Sans stood, a foot to the left of the human, casually relaxing against a pillar. A knife was in his hands. Their knife. He was twirling it around, expertly.

***you made a mistake. its time for judgement. not anymore of that half assed judgement i was doing.**

His voice was sharper. Colder and more alive than before.

It was filled with rage. No longer hollow.

It was the voice of someone who has finally decided to do something.


	2. The Second Chapter (Asgore)

He sighed, looking at the beautiful golden room. He looked at the next room with a gaze that was mixed with sadness. It was one of the reasons that he lost his family.

His wife and his children. Gone. Two of them dead by the hands of fate. While the other, his wife, gone because of him wanting to get revenge and destroying that damned barrier. She was disgusted by his actions, leaving him.

_Why couldn't it be them? They deserved this hell more!_ These negative thoughts echoed throughout his mind. A crunch echoed throughout the room. He took a deep breath to calm himself, his eyes looking down at his watering can.

It was crushed. A sign that he still couldn't control his own anger.

He put the watering can down on the floor, next to a bed of beautiful yellow same flowers that got her k-. He stopped that train of thought. It wouldn't do to get angry. Not again. He grimaced in memory. He grabbed six grown buttercups from his garden.

Asgore finally walked to the Barrier room.  
Seven containers, one empty, rose up.

Memories assailed his mind. Four humans that he himself killed. He was guilty and shouldn't be forgiven. _I don't deserve it._

A green soul shone in its container, the memories slowly turning to something more bearable. Memories of times where he was still with his family. Better times. For some reason, there was a feeling that he always got that someone should be in some of the memories, but he couldn't recall who. Almost as if they didn't exist. Asgore was used to this feeling and so he ignored it.

Asgore's frown turned to a small smile, with him walking over to the Kindness soul, paying his respects. He placed a buttercup in front of the Kindness soul.  
"Thank you. For what it means, I'm truly sorry..."

After those words, his smile started becoming faker, more melancholic, but he continued paying his respects to each of the souls.

This was a daily ritual that has occurred ever since Integrity's words struck him.

The souls retreat back under, the buttercups turning to beautiful golden sparkles because of a phenomenon from the Barrier.

_No one, not even... Who?_ There was a bout of confusion that assailed Asgore's mind. It wasn't the first time this thought took his mind and Asgore knew better than to pry into questioning who.

As he exited the Barrier room, he noticed a buttercup that had a face in his garden. He walked over to it, seeing it trembling. He put on his fake King smile.

"Why hello. Who are you?"  
The questions seemed to somewhat hurt the flower, judging by the expressions. He wasn't as good at this as Sans, but he knew enough of what hurt faces were.

"Something wrong?"  
With Asgore's questioning, the flower shakily let out a breath, somehow, and spoke.

*Howdy... There's a monster outside. In the Judgement Hall with Sm-.  
It cut itself off, its expression turning to dread.

Asgore was confused until he heard the sounds of footsteps.

Silent ones, so silent that Asgore himself easily was scared by their owner countless times until he learned how to hear the slippers come into contact with the floor.

The flower's expression turned to horror & surprise before dashing underground and leaving. Asgore looked up from his position, seeing a... monster of a human.  
A monster that was terrified, hanging in the air with a blue aura around it. It was utterly helpless.

_A single slash from his trid-_

_No._ Asgore stopped that thought process. He looked to the monster casually relaxing on the wall. The Judge of Judgement Hall.

*sup, asgore. i have a very disobedient child here.

A blade clattered to the floor, around the human's area. It was covered in dust.

Asgore understood the implications.

Though, he was confused as to where the knife came from. He knew the human was unarmed.

He also saw more weapons, each covered in dust, were around the blade.  
He also knew that specific blade. It was the knife that Chara brought everywhere.

The clothes of the human were also dusted. There were also puncture marks. The human was still assailed with pain, Asgore could tell from the contorting expressions on the face.

"Sans. What is the meaning of this?"  
He had to make sure...

Sans' grin was still the same, but Asgore saw a spark of... Anger? Anger seems to spark around the smile...

*well, a brat killed others for personal amusement & entertainment. i dont need to tell you which brat.

*it was a genocide. only few escaped.  
Asgore's neutral frown turned angry.

_They tore away my subjects. They killed her, Tori. There will be no forgiveness._ He growled in anger, seething. Magic was distorting around Asgore, the very air turning hot.

Sans silently watched as Asgore bursted into a rage, hundreds of fireballs launching at the child.  
Dozens of bones stopped them.

"Sans. Stand aside. I must avenge her."  
The words were filled with rage.

*calm down, king fluffybuns. come with me.  
Sans said this as he walked straight out of the room with casual confidence. The human monster followed him.

Asgore grudgingly complied with Sans, calming himself down. He followed after the short skeleton.

Asgore stepped out into the judgment hall, seeing the brilliant golds. Hearing the birds singing.

Interestingly enough, the human wasn't trying to escape Sans' grasp. It was terrified of Sans.  
Asgore doesn't know why, and if it weren't for all the evidence & Sans being the bringer of the child, he wouldn't believe this fearful child to be the killer of Tori.

But Sans' analytical gaze judges all evenly. Fairly. Even when he himself doesn't want to, he brings the hammer down in a guilty verdict or an innocent verdict. He is the Judge, Jury, and Executioner.  
And his power is not just simply about it.

As Asgore was thinking about this, he realized that they're still walking through the Judgement Hall.  
He gazed around at his surroundings, realizing something crucial.

Everything has been cut off.

*youve figured it out, huh?  
The voice startled Asgore, realizing Sans has just been watching Asgore keep walking and looping over and over.

*yeah, thing is, this is a necessity. it blocks off the kids ability to go back. i need you for something, goat man.  
Asgore bristled at the nickname. It was just bad.

*what, wish i pulled wool over your eyes?

"I'm not a goat or sheep, Sans."  
Asgore's voice was irritated.

Even the child was in a face that was a mixture of annoyance & fear.  
*fine, spoil my fun.

The room then chilled fourty degrees lower, the human huddling its body closer to itself in a way to stave the cold.  
Asgore merely heated the air around him, not doing so for the human due to his own feelings.

He glared at the child, who winced at the accusatory glare they were being given.  
The child's blue glow lessened, them falling on the floor ungracefully. Asgore was a single second away from lopping their head off, only halted by a hand with the universal stop gesture.

*dont worry, big guy. they wont do anything. look at their expression.  
Asgore followed Sans' instruction to see that the human still trembling and utterly terrified. Not of Death, but of Sans. As if Sans could chase them across even death and still grab them.

Asgore noted to learn more about the elusive judge.

*now that you two have gotten used to the cold... well, as much as you can, its time to continue.  
Sans' voice was no longer the dull, bored, and lazy voice from before. Asgore noted it is now sharper than before, piercing, and focused only on his goal. It was no way near the old voice it used to be. It was entirely different. Even Sans' aura shifted to that of a person who is completely prepared, focused, and powerful.

It made Asgore look like an insect. The sheer power Sans held was frightening, on a level higher than even the human souls.

_What monster did that g-... Who? _Asgore knew that it had to do with the mysterious entity that the Judge was so powerful. That elusive entity that was always gone, never seems to be there but everything related to him had a form of eeriness and emptiness.

It was frustrating to find out. As Sans' aura shifted, the human immediately hugged itself completely, submissive to Sans.

The sheer amount of fear to bend a human who could cause a genocide of the monsters was insane.

Sans shifted his eyes to the human, his face unreadable.

*hey, kid. judgement awaits, doesnt it?  
The child shuddered in fear at Sans' sharp voice, answering in a meek voice.

"Y-... Yes..."  
It was a fragile voice.

_What has Sans done to the child?_ Asgore couldn't help but wonder.

*welp, come on. kid, you know what to do. its time for your judgment... all ya gotta do is reset. continue and the punishment is only worse.  
Sans' voice was a lazy drawl this time, but both knew that if the human disobeyed, Sans wouldn't hesitate to enact harsher punishment than what he's thinking.

Asgore didn't know what reset means though. He was curious as he watched the human slowly uncurl from the heap, still terrified, and cautiously walking to the other end of the Judgement Hall.

Asgore didn't trust the child, preparing attacks.

They flinched, their expression hoping that they wouldn't have to face the pain of being burnt alive by an enraged Asgore of all things.

In Asgore's mind, Chara's image was imposed upon the human but Asgore shook it off.

His child was not evil.

Asgore was then sent spiraling in an endless darkness before being put back to his throne room.

He awoke on the throne, questioning.

He thought it was a dream for a second before he realized something.

He heard footsteps, ones that came from someone without shoes. Specifically a human. He remembers those distinct footsteps.

But he also heard Sans' slippers.

Conversation was initiated at the throne room doors, something about attacking the human but was stopped by presumably Sans.

The door opened and Asgore saw Sans and the human from before.

*sup. a road of redemption is in store. but first...  
The human, different from before, was in terrible condition.

It looked as if their life was sucked out by something. Sure enough, their HP was at 1... Out of 1.

*surprised?  
Sans was stating the obvious, chuckling.

*blame me. anyways, its time for judgment.

Before Asgore knew what was going on, space distorted. He found himself in a chamber of sorts. _His chamber. _  
Static hit his mind at that thought, not understand who he was thinking about.

It was a laboratory. A short one, but still one nonetheless. A machine was uncovered in the corner, the human being near it with Sans.

They followed Sans' orders.

Asgore was unsure what was happening before he saw a portal form.

*hey, asgore, you may be questioning why you remember the last timeline.

*it was because of me, really. anyways, i need you to do something. dont bring papyrus into this and dont let him find out where this is. please.  
Sans was no longer smiling. This was new. Even the human was in disbelief.

Sans always smiles.

*otherwise, ill put you down.

Asgore knew better than to refuse.

A portal appeared and swallowed up the human & Sans. It stayed, beckoning. Asgore walked out of the laboratory. He needed to decide a course of action to take to not allow Papyrus to find out that lab.

Sans would find out and Asgore doesn't want to suffer the consequences.

But that human. Will Sans give them judgment or not?  
Asgore couldn't shake off the thought that Sans might get buddy buddy with the child. For now, he'll follow Sans' orders.

But first, he needs to start training the Royal Guard more.

In case even Sans falls, they all need to be better.

* * *

**Is this good? I'm unsure. I know I can probably do much better than this, but hey, it's a start. Thanks for reading. **


	3. The Third Chapter (Flowey)

Flowey didn't understand.  
No one did except Asgore, Frisk, and Sans.

Flowey was the only monster capable of actually getting past the magic Sans used to block out the rest of the underground.  
It only took a few human souls.

But that wasn't the problem that Flowey didn't understand. After everything was RESET, Flowey could feel an indescribable emotion flaring through. He realized it was confusion. How could that Smiley Trashbag terrify even the child? Another feeling showed up.

No, it was something about that Smiley Trashbag.  
Something terrifying. That Flowey was **_inferior _**to Sans.

Flowey always knew he had some relation to Gaster, using previous knowledge as the Prince, but they never knew Sans could block out RESETs and had the ability to utterly annihilate the determined child with ease.

That begged the question, why did Sans never stop Flowey from using the RESETs? There must be a reason.

He found out. The reason was that Sans couldn't understand the RESETs. Now, with a few thousand RESETs passed, Sans understood them. How they functioned, how they worked, and what was needed to stop them.

A being outside of time's power.  
Luckily for Sans, he had a small bit of Gaster's power. He used it to cross out the RESET, the void that the RESET resided in turning against it.

Flowey also knew something was wrong. He could control the RESETs again. Sure, there was some resistance, but not nearly as much as before. He could RESET it only a bit back in time.

_So what happened to_ _Frisk_? was the question in his mind.  
They definitely couldn't have died for good, that was outside the realms of possibility.

Flowey had to investigate this strange occurrence, find it out. That involved Smiley Trashbag. Using that as a key point, Flowey traveled to the skeleton's house. Confusion struck his thoughts as he appeared.

_Asgore? Why is Asgore here? _With surprising clarity, Flowey answered his own thoughts.

_Sans. _He realized, _Sans had brought him here. _

Then, suddenly, the power he had over RESETs increased, the resistance to it completely fading away. Asgore, in the doorway behind the skeleton brother's house to a secret lab, sighed before turning around and heading out, the door closing & locking on its own behind him.

He studied his surroundings and stopped upon seeing and hearing a very loud noise.

*WHY HELLO, KING ASGORE! YOU WOULDN'T HAPPEN TO KNOW WHERE SANS IS, WOULD YOU? I HAVE SO MUCH TO SHOW HIM IN REGARDS TO MY LEARNING IN THE CULINARY ARTS OF SPAGHETTI MAKING!

It was Papyrus, the tall skeleton moving with a purpose to Asgore. The tall skeleton's eyes shone as he was carrying a plate of spaghetti above his head.

* OR PERHAPS YOU WOULD LIKE SOME PASTA YOURSELF?

Flowey saw that Asgore's expression was darkening, not of Papyrus, but because of something else.

"Well, I have not seen Sans lately. Perhaps we can have a conversation over a cup of tea?"  
The invitation Asgore sent had Papryus cheer in joy.

*WOWEE! INVITED TO A CONVERSATION WITH KING ASGORE? WILL I BE CAPABLE OF JOINING THE ROYAL GUARD?  
With that, Asgore's expression turned grim before going back.

"I will have to ask Undyne. Perhaps, Papyrus."

Papyrus's eyes shone like stars.

"We should go inside. I might taste some of your spaghetti myself."  
Flowey winced, realizing what King Asgore has done.

_Idiot. _Flowey shivered.  
*REALLY!? NYEH HEH HEH, MY SPAGHETTI IS THE BEST!

"Really? Well then, why don't I be the judge of that?"  
Papyrus gave his affirmation and proceeded to jog into his own house, along with Asgore.

Flowey noticed that random residents of Snowdin were drawn to the commotion of the tall skeleton's voice before they headed off, seeing nothing except a door closing.

He decided to make himself scarce. He knew that without Sans that he wasn't getting in the basement of the skeleton brother's house. It always was a topic of interest for the flower, never realizing what was behind the door.

A memory struck his mind, seemingly lacking a presence that glitched out every time he tried to remember it.  
Like Asgore, Flowey filed it as unimportant and returned to watching the underground to find the human.

Maybe torture the residents if lucky.

* * *

A figure watched at where Flowey disappeared. Curiosity overwhelmed its mind, trying to figure out if he has seen that flower before.  
He decided it was unimportant before falling on his face and pushing himself back up by throwing his head back as hard as he can, gravity helping him up.

"It's time for dinner, honey!"  
"OH CRAP! COMING, MOM!"

And with that, Monster Kid disappeared back home, a stray white pellet crashing down where he was, only missing due to chance.

* * *

**End. Sorry for the short chapter, just too lazy to make it longer. **


End file.
